Bindings
by Estrelle Buscador
Summary: Rapunzel and Eugene visit the orphanage where Eugene grew up. While spending time with the kids, something important to Eugene is broken. Can Rapunzel fix it? One-shot.


Greetings Readers! Just another Tangled one-shot coming your way...I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Tangled, or any of its characters. I do own the adorable orphans I've created, but not any of the orphans in famous books or musicals. If I did...I'd have a lot more money than I do now.

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><p>Eugene actually liked visiting the kids at the orphanage every week he went down to the village.<p>

He knew that some people said that almost his visits with the kids was just a way of endearing himself to the king, mostly by the young lords and princes who came hoping to court Rapunzel only to find that she was no longer available. So far they had all openly subdued their disgust and upset at discovering the loss of their prospects, regally brushing a kiss against her hand and saying that her boyfriend was a lucky man. It was only outside Rapunzel's hearing that they gave way to snobby mumblings as they strutted about the grounds, showing off their finery, and Eugene had heard them insinuate in the most courtly way that Eugene was clearly trying to impress the king and Rapunzel. They couldn't understand how a man without the benefit of royal breeding could possibly appeal to a princess like Rapunzel, without the snobby attitude, the fussy clothes, or a cupboard's worth of silver spoons in his mouth.

Eugene smirked whenever he remembered using the term about a particularly fussy prince who had actually tried convincing Rapunzel to change her mind about him. Rapunzel had frowned slightly in confusion and tilted her head in that adorable way that made him want to kiss her senseless – she was by no means dumb, but after eighteen years of seclusion, common idioms were often lost on her, and her tutors were more focused on teaching her how to run a kingdom than about common speech. She'd asked him if the silver spoons had anything to do with the butter not melting in his mouth, smiling as he burst into laughter and pulled her close.

The king and queen, and most importantly Rapunzel, knew that Eugene's intentions were sincere, and Rapunzel had even been able to come along on occasion. However, that day she was busy greeting a delegation from one of their neighboring kingdoms and so he was alone as he shook the dust from the bottom of his boots and knocked on the orphanage door. However he was not for long as when the door was opened by one of the older girls, he was suddenly inundated by eagerly chattering children and nearly knocked over backwards. "Hi, Eugene!" They chorused, grabbing him by the tunic and pulling him eagerly inside. The orphanage mother came out of the kitchen, where she had been preparing lunch, wiping her hands on her apron as she watched the kids pull Eugene into their playroom with amusement. "Hello, Eugene." Her face was somehow young, but there was a lot more gray in her hair then there had been when he'd stayed there."

"Whoa, kids! Easy on the shirt," Eugene laughed, "I'd have to run down the city streets naked again. It was bad enough the first time." One of the little boys pulling at the front of the shirt widened his eyes and let go of the shirt so quickly it was like it had burned him. His older brother snorted with laughter. "He's just kidding!"

Eugene grinned down at the little boy and cuffed him gently on the shoulder. "Yeah, I was just kidding."

"Is Princess Rapunzel coming today?" The little boy asked, and all the kids stopped pulling on him and looked up eagerly. They all liked it when Rapunzel came to visit, although the two of them hadn't been able to convince the kids to drop the 'princess' part.

'No, she has to meet some people from another kingdom today," Eugene said, smiling at the pouting faces of the children, "but hopefully she can come next time." The kids brightened and they all sat down in their usual corner. "What do you want me to read?"

"Flynnegan Rider! Flynnegan Rider!" The younger kids chorused, bouncing up and down as the older kids nodded enthusiastically. Eugene stood up and grabbed the familiar volume from the bookshelf above his head and rubbed his fingers across the worn binding. A lot of memories came just form holding the book – reading the book to the younger kids when he lived at the orphanage, dreaming of living like him, choosing Flynn Rider for his dashing rogue name when he became a thief…It was reassuring that these kids loved the stories just as much as he and the other kids had. He could only hope that it wouldn't lead any of them to become wanted men and thieves – although that had helped him and Rapunzel meet in the first place…

Smirking, he cracked open the book gingerly and began to read. "A long time ago, there lived a dashing man named Flynnegan Rider…"

···

Rapunzel walked over to her bed and flopped onto the blankets face-first with a very un-princess-like groan. Pascal squeaked indignantly from near her ear and she lifted her head to see that she had nearly squashed her friend as she fell. She patted his head apologetically to which he squeaked reassuringly before crawling over to her and nuzzling her cheek. He seemed to know that today had been a very trying day and as usual, was there to make her feel better. Since the royal delegation from Thebia had come with all their finery, Rapunzel had been pressured by her etiquette tutor to do likewise – and that meant no Pascal adorning her shoulder. Rapunzel had nothing against formalities, but formality simply for formality's sake irritated her. The ambassador was actually very nice, and with interesting opinions on painting, but the prince who'd come along was unbearable, slinking about her like a shadow that she could never shake off. She wished Eugene had been there for several reasons, but usually his protective stance was enough to deter other men from hitting on her. Rapunzel smiled. But reading to those kids made him happy, and she was proud of him for doing it – so she was glad that he hadn't been at the palace.

Rapunzel felt a hand on her shoulders and bolted upwards. Hearing a deep chuckle of laughter, she sat up and glared at her boyfriend. "You scared me!"

Eugene smirked unrepentedly and plopped down on the bed beside her. "Relax, blondie. You looked tired so I thought I'd walk in quietly."

Rapunzel covered her heart and took a deep breath. "And gave me a heart attack?"

"You know you love me," Eugene smirked, kissing her.

Rapunzel rolled her eyes and smiled before kissing him back. "Although sometimes I wonder why. How was your day?"

"Good. The kids still love Flynnegan Rider and lunch was good – the kids missed you."

"Oh, that's sweet," Rapunzel said, "Well, hopefully I can come next time. Father should let me, especially after today."

"Today?" Eugene's eyes became concerned. "What happened today?"

Rapunzel internally winced; Eugene wasn't going to like this. "Oh, just the usual delegation meetings and the prince kept following me around…" Eugene's eyes flashed fire, and Rapunzel sighed. _I could have put that better._

"Did you tell him about me?" Eugene asked evenly. Rapunzel nodded, and his right fist clenched.

"Eugene, it's not a big deal," Rapunzel reasoned, "He'll get it eventually."

Eugene relaxed and the angry look left his eyes. "I guess…if he's not bothering you…" Most would have been taken in by the innocent look in her boyfriend's face, but Rapunzel caught the mischievous glint in his eye. She pulled against his chest with one hand until she was looking straight at him.

"Don't even think about it, Eugene."

Eugene looked innocently shocked as he leaned down towards his girlfriend. "What?"

"Uh-huh." Rapunzel crossed her arms. "I know that look – last time I saw that look, somebody snuck into the prince of Coron's room and stole his underwear."

Eugene shrugged one shoulders nonchalantly up and down. "Could have gone missing in the laundry."

"Eugene, you hung it on the top of the flagpole!" Rapunzel shook her head, "It was a good thing Father told them something about the laundresses wanting to use the fresh sea air to make their clothes more comfortable."

"Well, he wouldn't leave you alone," Eugene brushed a kiss on her forehead, "and I had to get him to stop."

"My hero," Rapunzel sat on her bed and folded her legs underneath her. "I'm just glad that tomorrow they're bartering over goods and I don't have to be there."

Eugene's eyes lit and he sat down beside her. "Hey, since you're free tomorrow, want to go down and visit the kids? They really missed you today."

Rapunzel brightened. "Okay! I'm sure Father would let me go." She frowned, "But would you be able to get off two days in a row?" After Eugene had moved into the palace, he had begun training to become a guard to help further the overall security of the castle, especially as having been a former thief he would know the places most vulnerable to attack. He also felt like if he didn't give Eugene something to do, he'd spend most of it near Rapunzel, which was admirable but also problematic when concerning her focus to her studies.

"Don't worry, Blondie," Eugene said confidently, running his fingers through her shoulder-length brown hair, "leave that to me."

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They hadn't intended to take Maximus with them since it was only a little over two miles' walk to the orphanage from the castle, but it had been raining hard all morning and the queen didn't want them walking all the way back and possibly catching cold from exposure to the rain. Rapunzel was still wearing the thick cloak her mother had insisted on, with the heavy hood bouncing up and down as Maximus trotted over the cobblestones, when they stopped just outside the orphanage. Eugene quickly dismounted and helped Rapunzel down just as the door of the orphanage burst open and the kids streamed out. Pascal, who had been hiding in the folds of Rapunzel's hood – he didn't like getting wet – jumped out to greet the girls who began squealing over him, and Maximus allowed one of the older boys to take his reins and lead him into the courtyard behind the orphanage building, children giggling and patting the horse's coat. Rapunzel walked over to the orphanage matron and hugged her. "How are you? Do you need help with lunch?"

The matron gave a chuckle, the princess always got right to the point. "I'm fine, your majesty. But if you'd like to help carry out the sandwiches for lunch you can."

Rapunzel followed the matron into the kitchen and Eugene stopped by the bookshelves long enough to grab a few books before walking outside. As he pushed open the door to the outside courtyard, he smiled at the sight of the kids having a good time: Maximus was giving rides to the little kids who clambered onto his back, and Pascal was amusing the others by changing into different colors, playing hide-and-seek, and using his tail to make shadow puppets onto the courtyard wall. Walking carefully through the yard to keep from crashing into the playing children or stepping into muddy puddles, Eugene reached the corner of the courtyard and perched on it, leaning against the warm stone with a contented sigh. It didn't seem that long ago that he'd been here himself, a little kid who had nothing although he hadn't really noticed until he was in his early teens. The only thing that was missing from the nostalgia was the matron's famous brownies…

A rich chocolate smell wafted past his nose and he looked over at the approaching women – the matron was carrying a large platter of sandwiches, and Rapunzel followed with a plate heaped with brownies. Eugene's mind temporarily went blank. _Delicious…_and the brownies looked pretty good, too.

His face took on a distinct smirk as he jumped lightly off of the courtyard wall and walked over to the tables where the food was being laid out. He leaned over Rapunzel and she bumped into his chest as she straightened up. "Hey Eugene." She smiled, turning to face him.

Eugene leaned over closer, causing her to blush. "Good enough to eat."

Rapunzel flushed an even darker red, and Eugene was leaning in to taste her lips when a painfully familiar hand grabbed his ear and yanked him down. "Eugene…" the matron warned as she let go of his ear. "None of that, now – especially in front of the kids."

Eugene rubbed his sore ear ruefully. That ear had been the victim of several such attacks during his teenage years, and he was pretty sure that his right ear lobe was longer as a result. Rapunzel laughed and he shot her a sad look. "As my girlfriend, shouldn't you be helping me out here?" He asked.

Rapunzel laughed again and kissed his cheek as she put the brownies on the table. "Sorry, Eugene, but she has a point."

"Hmph." Eugene crossed his arms and looked as close to a petulant child as a grown man could without technically pouting.

The matron wiped a forearm across her forehead, exhaling deeply. "Those plates get heavier every day." She looked up at Eugene. "I need a little more time to get everything ready – would you mind reading them a story?"

Eugene nodded, the petulant look sliding off his face. "Sure. Hey kids!" He bellowed, causing both the matron and Rapunzel to wince and cover their ears. "Come on over – we got time for a story before lunch."

The matron smiled at the cheering kids and swept back towards the kitchen, Rapunzel following. The kids swept upon him like a rushing flood nearly knocking him off his feet, causing him nearly to drop the storybooks he'd brought out. "Whoa, hold it there guys." He perched back on the wall and the kids plopped down accordingly and looked up at him. "Which book do you want me to read?"

"Flynnegan! Flynnegan!" The kids cried out excitedly, and Eugene grinned down at them.

"Excellent choice," he nodded approvingly, "William, would you grab it for me?"

William, the little boy who'd eagerly greeted Eugene the last time he'd visited, got up, grinning from ear to ear from being chosen and carefully picked up the book from the table. Eugene bit back a smile at the enthusiastic spring in the boy's step, and reached out an arm for the book. Unfortunately, it never made it there.

In his enthusiastic bounding, William banged both knees against the brick wall and gasped in surprised pain as the roughness grazed his skin. His hands flew to his knees and in the process, he dropped the book. Wide-eyed, he realized what he'd done, and the book seemed to fall in slow motion and he reached desperately for it. He only managed to grab a few pages before the book hit the ground, landing in a puddle. William looked from the pages in his hand to the rapidly soaking book, and his eyes began tearing up.

Eugene slid off from the wall and scooped up the book. The age-faded ink words and drawings were nearly indecipherable, lines of watery ink spidering across the pages and drizzling onto the grass of the courtyard. Eugene turned it over a few times in his hands, assessing the damage, before looking down at the pages in William's hand. He was about to ask for the torn pages when he saw the sad, guilty look on the little boy's face, and thought better of it. instead, Eugene thumped him reassuringly on the back. "Hey, it's okay. Don't worry – we'll just read another book."

···

Rapunzel rubbed the sleep from her eyes and took a deep invigorating yawn before craning her head outside the door. The midnight guard hadn't finished their rounds and returned to their posts outside her room. Slipping out barefoot and silent, she padded down the hall to her destination, thinking it was a good thing that she didn't have the long hair she once was accustomed to. _It definitely would be harder to sneak around with a trail like that following me,_ she smiled to herself and then held her breath as she reached the door and gently turned the doorknob.

It looked like a year of palace life had made the former thief soft – his only response to the visitor in his room was to give a deep snore and burrow into his pillow. Rapunzel gave a fair imitation of her boyfriend's trademark smirk before turning and tiptoeing to his bedside table, which had his satchel slung over it. She gingerly opened the bag and slid her hand inside only to inwardly groan at finding nothing. Stretching her neck to the side, she noticed the wastepaper basket beside the table and froze as she recognized what she had been looking for.

Quietly she reached into the basket and pulled out the worn book, wincing as a few sheets fell out of the water-damaged spine. Rapunzel snatched the pages off the ground and snuck out of the room before the guards returned to their posts in the hallway. Back in her room, Rapunzel lit two candles and placed them on her desk before opening the book and assessing the damage. There was a lot of it, and she wasn't sure how she could help fix it.

Eugene had put on a good face when the book had been ruined, easily distracting the kids with a new book and keeping the children convulsed with giggles all through lunch. To the casual observer, the broken book had made no effect on him, but Rapunzel knew better. After the kids had gone back inside to study or take naps, Eugene had spent a good few minutes lingering over a trashbasket outside the orphanage with the book balanced precariously in his hands. In the end, he couldn't bring himself to throw away and surreptitiously stuffed it into his satchel, but Rapunzel had noticed. _This book is important to him_, she thought as she turned the stiff pages and winced at the sharp noises they made, _he wouldn't have thrown it away if he thought it could be fixed._

It certainly didn't look like it could be fixed. The water damage was severe that most of the pages could barely be read and some mud had oozed itself through the spine and onto the pages. But Rapunzel wasn't in a mind to give up on it that easily. _Eugene's given me so much,_ she thought, _this is my chance to give something to him._ She pulled a letter opener out of the top desk drawer and tenderly sliced the pages from their bindings. Pulling out a fresh stack of parchment, an inkpot, and some quills, she stretched her shoulders, bent over the parchment, and began to work.

···

Rapunzel was up to something.

Either that, or something was up with Rapunzel, and not knowing what it was was driving Eugene crazy. He'd thought she'd been looking strangely tired for the last week or so, but he hadn't been able to convince anyone else of it, especially since Rapunzel was being extra perky to cover it up. But no one on the breakfast table missed it that morning – there were deep purple circles under her eyes, her smile seemed weary, and small yawns kept punctuating her sentences.

That, and she had somehow managed to pass out in the middle of her porridge. Luckily, it was cold.

"Sweetheart," the queen asked concernedly as she reached over and brushed her daughter's shoulder with her hand, "Are you all right?"

Rapunzel shot up so quickly she nearly took her mother's hand off. "What?"

"Are you all right?"

Rapunzel nodded quickly. "Yes, Mother, I'm fine."

"I'm not sure." With the casual confidence of a mother, the queen put a hand on her daughter's forehead. "Well, you don't have a fever. Have they been working you too hard in your studies?"

"No," Rapunzel unsuccessfully tried to stifle a yawn behind her hand, "I'm fine, really."

"Hmm," The queen didn't look convinced, and turned to her husband. "Perhaps she could take the day off from her studies and rest?"

The king nodded. "That sounds fine – get some rest, Rapunzel."

Rapunzel smiled. "Thanks Mother, Father."

Eugene leaned towards her. "Maybe we could go see the kids today if you're feeling rested enou-"

Rapunzel leapt up, her eyes tired but excited. "That sounds perfect! Wait here, I'll go get ready!" And with a surprising burst of speed, she ran out of the room and out of sight.

The three remaining at the table blinked confusedly for a few moments before looking at each other. Eugene shrugged before getting up. "I have no idea."

Rapunzel was waiting outside the palace, standing next to Maximus with Eugene's satchel clutched firmly in her hands. He offered to take it from her so she could get on Maximus, but she shook her head and helped herself up without letting go of the bag. Eugene considered pushing the question of what she was doing, but as she seemed eager to get to the orphanage, he let it slide for the moment.

As usual, both were inundated by children as they arrived and were ushered back into the courtyard. The kids began clamoring for a story, and Eugene was about to sprint back inside for a book when Rapunzel stopped him. She dangled his satchel in front of him. "Eugene, but you brought a book, remember? It's right in here."

Eugene felt confused. He didn't remember putting a book in there, but it was possible…and it would save him a trip. He pulled out a book and opened it – before nearly dropping it. The binding was new, the paper fresher, but it was unmistakably _The Adventures of Flynnegan Rider_. He looked down at his girlfriend in shock.

"I was able to fix it," she said, "I hope you're not mad, I snuck into your room and found it." Eugene remained silent, and Rapunzel continued, somewhat disconcerted at his silence, "That's why I've been so tired – I've stayed up working on it for a while and I think I got it all." Eugene was still staring down at her. She swallowed nervously, "Eugene, are you all-?"

She would have squawked in surprise if she'd had time but Eugene had grabbed her, tilted her head up towards his, and kissed her, all without dropping the book. Her eyes widened but soon slid shut as she melted into the kiss. It was probably safe to say that Eugene liked his surprise.

The children all looked at each other. "Ewwwwww!"

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><p>AN: I hope you liked it!

Thanks for reading and please review! They make me happy!


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